# Publishing destinations

> Where finished articles go, why publishing to a CMS is off in this release, and how an approved article leaves Audience as a Markdown file.

**Publishing** is where finished articles go. Scout always writes a draft first; nothing is published until you say so. In this release, publishing straight to a CMS is switched off, and the page says so. Approved articles leave Audience as a Markdown download, and putting them live is a step you take in your own CMS.

![The Publishing settings page](/docs/screens/settings-publishing.png)
_The page exists so that the decision is visible, not hidden. It offers no destination to add while CMS publishing is off._

## What the page shows

Open it from the workspace menu in the sidebar. With CMS publishing off, the page shows no destinations and explains that publishing straight to your CMS is off in this release. There is nothing to configure. If a destination had been set up in an earlier release, it would still be listed here with its name and site, but it would not be used.

Only owners and admins can change where content is published. Everyone else sees the page and a line saying so.

## How an article leaves Audience

When a draft is approved, the draft review screen offers **Download Markdown**, with the line: _"Approved and ready. Publishing is manual — put it live yourself."_ The file holds the approved version of the article with its title, meta description and slug, ready to paste into your CMS. [Publishing and Markdown](/content/publishing-and-markdown) walks through the download and a short checklist for putting it live.

Once the page is live on your site, Scout finds it in your search data and starts reporting on it under [Content performance](/reports/content-performance), usually about a week after publication.

## Why this is a decision, not a gap

Auto-publishing is off in this release on purpose. A draft that can go live without a person confirming it in the CMS where it will appear is a draft that can go live wrong, and this product's whole shape is a human checkpoint at every decision that matters. The Publishing page is here so that the choice is stated in the product rather than left for you to discover.